


Let Me Be Your Solace

by Alice_Rolfe



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-11
Updated: 2014-10-11
Packaged: 2018-02-20 17:37:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2437181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alice_Rolfe/pseuds/Alice_Rolfe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Will Solace has a way with medicine and may have just found a way to Nico's heart.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Let Me Be Your Solace

**Author's Note:**

> It's definitely been a while since I've posted a fic, so sorry about that. I have a Caleo fic ont he way, but here's one for all you Solanglo shippers out there. Comment with any new fic ideas you may have or send them to [my blog](http://alice-rolfe.tumblr.com/ask) and I'll write the ones I like (usually at 2 AM ^_^).
> 
> EDIT: There is now a [Part Two](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2617436) and a [Part Three](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2624783). Go crazy.

_Nico obliged. Then he walked back across the green, where Will Solace was waiting._

"Everything all right?" Will asked. Nico tried to calm the butterflies in his stomach, noting the brief glimpse of concern he caught in Will's eyes.

"Yeah I just... I just wanted to let Percy know that I'll be staying here for a while" Nico said with just a whisper of a smile.

Will beamed. "Good. So you'll definitely be in the infirmary for the next three days. No summoning zombies, no shadow travel, no sword fighting, no frowning, no trying to-"

"Wait, why is not frowning important to my health?" Nico asked.

"Not frowning is important to everyone's health, di Angelo". He said it like it was common knowledge, like there was something wrong with Nico for not knowing.

Nico rolled his eyes. "Alright then, doc, when do you want me to check in?"

"Oh you're checking in right now. Just looking at you is a health hazard. Have you been eating? You look like chicken wire"

"I do eat just when I'm hungry. I don't really have a big appetite though so I guess- hey, what are you doing?"

While Nico was talking Will took the liberty of placing two fingers on Nico's neck. Nico's skin burned where the Son of Apollo touched him. In fact, Nico's whole face as burning. When Will removed his fingers, Nico placed a hand on the spot where they were, half expecting to feel the beginnings of a burn mark. That's when Nico realized he hadn't actually been burned. Shit- he was blushing.

"What was that for?" Nico spat angrily, and tried to ignore the slightly hurt look Will gave him.

"I was taking your pulse, ghost boy, and it's a miracle you're even standing up straight. You're going to the infirmary. Right. Now."

"Fine, whatever, I'll go but I feel fine. You're wasting your time" Nico said dismissively.

"Yeah well I'd rather waste my time than run the risk of you wasting your life away. Now, am I going to have to carry you to the infirmary or are you gonna walk?" Will demanded.

Nico's eyes grew wide and his cheeks burned even hotter than before. "I can walk just fine" he grumbled, and headed off in the direction of the infirmary.

Will called after him. "I have to pick up some more supplies, but I'll be there in an hour. You better be in bed when I get there!"

_____

Nico knew the war had made for a lot of injured, and a full time job for Will, but he wasn't expecting this. The infirmary was bustling with healers, but the ratio of them to patients was drastically low. He didn't know where to begin. Who was he to come in here to rest when all these other kids were probably on the verge of death? No, not probably, they were on the verge of death. Nico could feel them dying, and it was becoming a bit overwhelming.

"I should just leave" he mumbled to himself. "Tell Will I had something else to do..."

"Hi, excuse me" a girl with brunette hair said as she approached Nico cautiously. "Um, are you Nico di Angelo?"

Nico raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"

The girl whipped out a clipboard and gave him a shaky smile. "Right well Will has you down for a room number and he wants you heavily monitored, so if you'll just follow me..." She gave Nico a look that screamed 'I'm just doing what he asked me please don't send me to the Underworld', but all Nico could think was that Will Solace had specially requested a room for him.

"Right, um sure lead the way then" Nico said and gestured for the girl to go ahead.

They came upon a door that opened to reveal an all white room with one large bed in the middle, dressed with gray sheets. Next to the bed sat a small table with a plastic cup of water and three different colored pills next to it.

The girl stood awkwardly in the doorway while Nico walked in. "Will's instructed me to tell you that you aren't to leave this room and you should take the medicine on the table".

Before Nico could protest, she rushed from the door, letting it slam closed behind her.

Oh well, not much to do now, Nico thought. He eyed the pills on the table before finally deciding to just take them. Before he knew it, Nico had curled into the soft down pillows of the bed and fallen asleep.

_____

Nico woke in a cold sweat with an odd feeling of pressure around his right hand. He turned over in bed to find Will's hand wrapped tightly around Nico's own as the son of Apollo's head leaned against the bed. He was asleep.

Resisting the urge to yank his hand away, Nico gently pulled it from Will's and looked at the sleeping boy. A golden curl fell over Will's forehead, the peace that comes with sleep making the boy look slightly angelic. Nico almost reached over to the brush the hair back from Will's face like Bianca used to, but then stopped himself. He barely knew Will.

Either way, he had promised to stay in the infirmary for three days, and he was a little more than curious to know why Will was sleeping in his room, so he gently pushed Will's shoulder. Nothing.

"Will" Nico said softly, awkwardly alternating between patting the other boy's back and poking his arm. "Will" Nico tried more forcefully, full on jostling the son of Apollo.

Finally, Nico gave up trying to be gentle. "SOLACE" he yelled and shoved Will so hard he almost fell out of the chair he was in. Okay, Nico needed to learn to be more gentle with people.

"Hey" Will started angrily but stopped when he caught sight of Nico's questioning gaze. "Oh, hey" he said again, a smile completely replacing the anger in his tone two seconds ago. "You're awake"

"Why are you in here?" Nico asked. His tone sounded a bit more accusing than he meant for it to.

"You were having a nightmare..." Will said sheepishly looking into his hands. "I, I didn't want you to be alone". Nico almost choked. He was always alone. Except for Hazel, but even she didn't have a lot of time to spare for him. He wanted to thank Will, wanted the son of Apollo to take his hand again, wanted to let him know that it was alright, he's fine. 

However, all that came out of Nico's mouth was "Uh, thanks"

Will gave him a sideways smile and winked. "Two more days, di Angelo and then you can be as alone as you want, but in here, you're mine"

Nico resisted the urge to declared that he would never leave then. The thought scared him. He barely knew the son of Apollo. Though, as Nico thought about it, he did know some things- some of the most important ones too. Will was good natured and kind, heroic in a healing, compassionate way that rivaled Percy Jackson, quick witted and impartial, usually swiping Nico's bitter retorts off as nothing. Plus, if Nico was being honest, he was slightly gorgeous in that perfect blonde, blue eyed-

"Nico, are you just gonna stare like an idiot or are you gonna listen to me?"

Nico shook himself from his thoughts. "Oh, oh um I'm gonna listen to you"

"Good" Will said and began pacing about the room a stern look on his face. "So I need you to be monitored at all times, but I can't do the monitoring myself while you're in here, and I don't trust anyone else enough to do it, so you're just gonna have to follow me around during the day. I won't be leaving the infirmary, so I don't think it should interfere with your treatment, and then I'll just have to make sure you're in bed all night. It's not what I'd originally planned, but I still think it could work. Perhaps you'll have to spend a few extra days, but that shouldn't be a-"

"For Hades' sake Solace, slow down" Nico interrupted.

Will looked up from the floor which he'd been staring at intensely during his lecture/pacing session. "Sorry" he said.

"I can follow you around during the day. It'll give me something to do. It can't be that bad"

_____

It was that bad. Nico almost couldn't handle the constant reminders of death and loss that littered the infirmary. To his surprise, he also found that he couldn't handle the guilt and distress they caused Will.

"This is my fault" Will spoke softly, leaning over the corpse of a dead camper. "I could've saved her"

This was the third time today Nico had hear Will say something like that, but the first two times he hadn't known how to respond. Now, he was sick of it.

"Will, you did more than anyone could have hoped for" he said.

"But it wasn't good enough. I wasn't good enough"

Nico could hardly believe that Will, the laid back, happy go lucky son of Apollo could blame himself for something like this. "Don't you dare say that you aren't good enough. You barely sleep, helping all these campers, trying to make them all okay, so don't you even dare".

Will chuckled, but a tear fell from his eye anyway. "Since when did you become the motivational speaker?"

"One of us has to be" Nico said finally.

_____

That evening Will walked with Nico to his room, and personally saw to it that Nico took his medicine. As Nico readied for bed, he saw that Will still lingered.

"You plan on tucking me in, and reading me a bedtime story?" Nico asked. "Why are you still here?"

Will's brow furrowed in confusion. "Three hours ago you were lecturing me on how I'm good enough to help these people, and now you want me to leave?"

Nico sighed. "I'm sorry I mean you don't have to leave, I just wanted to know why you were still here"

Will shrugged. "I like spending time with you"

Nico raised his eyebrows. He could hardly believe what he just heard. "Why?"

"I don't know. Maybe because you have a dark sense of humor. Maybe because you're completely brave and selfless but would never admit it. Maybe because you're unlike any other person I've met before. Maybe because you let yourself stand in the shadows, and gave Percy Jackson all the limelight because you're just that amazing"

Again, Nico almost choked. "What are you talking about?"

"Everything" Will began, flopping down onto the bed. "If it weren't for you, we wouldn't have beaten Kronos, but Percy Jackson got the hero title. Now he's gotten it again in the war with Gaea and everyone talks of his journey through Tartarus" Will paused, locking Nico with this gaze which Nico couldn't quite pinpoint the meaning of, but he didn't look away. "You survived Tartarus, alone. You convinced Hades to fight with the rest of the Gods against Kronos, alone. You should never be alone again. I..."

Will trailed off. The butterflies in Nico's stomach practically needed sedatives at this point. He sat next to Will on the bed, their shoulders brushing. Sure, he didn't know Will Solace all that well, and they'd only be friends for about three days, but here Will was, ready to be Nico's rock, his biggest support.

Nico's hands trembled, but he reached out at laced his fingers through Will's who looked a bit surprised at first, but eventually closed his hand around Nico's. His mouth slowly spread into a grin.

"I don't want you to be alone, di Angelo" he said, nudging Nico's shoulder with his own.

There were so many things Nico wanted to say, but he'd have time. The war was over, the battle won, so all he said was "I know".


End file.
